Sudden Parenthood
by Storms-Are-My-Nature
Summary: On a re-watch of FOotR the other day, the little kid - the last survivor - kinda intruiged me. I really think Jack and Ianto should adopt him. Period. Only, it's a bit boring just like that... so I'm adding in some stuff. END WILL BE SAD! Janto, Gwys.
1. Chapter 1

_**Sudden Parenthood**_

**Chapter One**

**I was just thinking about the kid from "From Out of the Rain". I like him. I think Jack and Ianto should adopt him. **

**Hence this story came along... it was up on my LiveJournal account first, and chapter 2 is there, too... which will be up **_**very soon**_**!**

**Disclaimer: Maybe in an alternate universe... but not here. Got it? Me. No. Own. **

"Jack!" Ianto called, from Toshiko's workstation in the main Hub.

"Yeah?" Jack stuck his head out of his office door.

"Can you come down here for a moment?"

Jack clattered down the steps and peered over his shoulder. "What is it?"

Ianto was frowning at the monitor. "Says here that there's some activity over at an orphanage in Grangetown."

"Big?"

Ianto tapped a couple of keys. "Big enough," he replied grimly. "Something's come through."

Fifteen minutes later, the SUV was screeching to a halt outside a school-like building.

Jack, Ianto and Gwen leapt out, Ianto checking his PDA.

"Looks like just one alien – doesn't say what..." Ianto read out. "Second floor."

Jack nodded and tried the front door. "Locked."

"Not surprising," Gwen pointed out. "It is nearly ten at night."

Jack pressed the doorbell and looked in through the glass, shading his eyes with one hand.

"No-one's coming," he said finally, stepping back.

Ianto started to say something. "There's-"

Too late. Jack had already kicked in the glass.

Ianto raised his eyebrows as Jack climbed through, careful not to cut himself on the shards of glass still stuck in the frame. "I was about to tell you about the side-door," he commented, tipping his head to the smaller door ajar, down the alley. "Might have been easier."

Jack shrugged. "Not as dramatic, though."

Ianto rolled his eyes.

Gwen stifled a scream as they opened the door to one of the dormitories on the second floor.

The beds were stained dark with blood, corpses mangled beneath the slashed sheets.

The carpet squelched wetly under Jack's boots as he took a cautious step inside. He looked down. The naturally green carpet was a red-brown with the blood.

Ianto gave a soft whistle, eyes sad. "What sort of creature murders children?"

Jack looked at him. "One that's far from home and scared."

"That still doesn't justify this!" Gwen argued, gesturing at the room. She had tears in her soft doe-eyes.

Ianto's eyes, too, were wet with tears. "They're all dead," he said softly, staring at the nearest bed.

"There's no way any of them could have survived that," Jack said, gentled than normal. He touched the Welshman on the shoulder. "We need to go and find what did this."

The next room was little better. Or the next.

But in the fourth room, the last one, they burst through the door to be confronted by the alien, roughly the same size and shape as a grizzly bear, but with green and blue mottled fur. Its paws and muzzle were blood-covered and strips of flesh were caught in its claws.

It snarled savagely as they aimed their guns at it. Its eyes were rolled back into its head in terror, and the large ears flattened, cat-like, against its skull.

"Sorry mate," Jack whispered, then opened fire. The bear made an odd 'guh' sound as the bullet hit it smack in the forehead and it toppled to the carpet.

Gwen let out a little sob as she lowered her gun, lips pressed tight together in an effort not to burst into tears.

Ianto gave a shuddering sigh and looked at the body in the centre of the room. He nearly didn't spy the young boy curled into a ball beneath the farthest bed, the one under the window. "Jack – over there." He nodded to the bed. "There's a survivor."

**Put simply, reviews really make me happy. And **_**might **_**just persuade me to get up another chapter of Splash before the weekend... long wait, I know. I'm a bad girl. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

**This was put up before, but I've just redone all the formatting (it was slightly crazy). **

**Disclaimer: Yes! Me! Hello! I'm RTD! Yes! -is glared at by angry BBC- Well... no. Not really. I don't own Torchwood. No point in suing. **

"Oh, the poor pet," Gwen said instantly, rushing over and kneeling down beside the bed, reaching out towards the boy.

The boy flinched away from her, whimpering and burying his head in his arms.

Gwen looked startled. "C'mon, love, I'm not going to hurt you," she said, giving her best encouraging smile, the one that showed all her teeth.

If it was even possible, the kid looked even more terrified. He let out a sob.

Ianto frowned. "Gwen. Maybe you'd better leave him."

"But-" Gwen started to protest.

"Gwen."

Gwen shook her head and straightened up. The child visibly relaxed, his eyes gleaming from out of the shadows.

Ianto started to pat down his pockets, searching for something.

Jack frowned. "What is it?"

"Chocolate," Ianto announced. "I had some chocolate- aha!" He produced a Cadbury's Dairy Milk bar and unwrapped it, neatly folding the purple wrapper before bending down and holding a chunk out to the kid.

Jack grinned as he realised what the Welshman was doing. Gwen still looked perturbed.

The boy's eyes narrowed at Ianto, suspicious.

Ianto proffered the chocolate again.

A small hand whipped out and snatched the chunk.

Ianto patiently broke off another and waited for the kid to finish before holding it out again. His blue eyes were calm and steady.

"It's OK," he said reassuringly. "You need to come out of there. Can't be all that comfortable, under the bed."

He held out his hand again, this time absent of chocolate.

It was grasped by the pale hand, and the boy allowed him to help him out from under the bed.

Ianto had to bite back a gasp as he got a proper look at him.

Jack stepped forward, incredulous. "It's-" he started, then broke off, swallowing. "Hello again."

The kid didn't smile. His dark eyes were wary, and he kept on glancing at Gwen. It was obvious that he didn't trust her.

Jack noticed. "Gwen - can you please go and get a blanket from the SUV," he said, not taking his eyes off the boy with the tousled blond hair and mistrustful eyes.

Gwen glared at Jack before striding from the room, tossing her hair over her shoulder as she went. Ianto knew that he'd probably have to pacify her with a jam doughnut and a latte later that evening.

As soon as the door had closed behind her, the kid's stance changed. He straightened slightly, meeting Jack's gaze with a measured eye.

"You're the ones from the hospital," he said quietly.

"We are," Jack affirmed. Then, gentler, "I'm sorry about what happened. If I could have changed it, I would."

The boy took in the news calmly - on the surface. Behind his large eyes were shutters; Ianto recognised the look from his own face and from Jack's.

"What's your name?" Jack asked. Ianto knew that the Captain was trying to break the ice; both of them had dealt with the files. They knew more about him and his family than the kid himself probably knew.

"Aled."

"Aled....?" Jack prompted.

"Just Aled." Aled's face was impassive. It was impossible to tell what was passing through his mind.

"Well then, Just Aled - how old are you now?" Jack grinned.

Aled didn't crack a smile. "Eight. Nine in March."

"Not long now, then!"

Aled's brows drew together in a dark line. "It's December."

Jack looked lost for words - not something Ianto was used to.

"D'you want to come with us?" he offered. "I guess you want some answers."

Aled looked momentarily wrong-footed, but recovered swiftly. "Where to?" he asked, guardedly. No doubt he had been taught about 'Stranger Danger' and all that.

Jack grinned. "Somewhere very special."

"Are you sure it was a good idea bringing him straight into the Hub?" Gwen asked Jack in a loud whisper as they crossed the Plass.

Ianto glanced at Aled. He was wearing Ianto's coat over his pyjamas. He looked swamped by the black coat.

"Where else are we going to take him?" Jack retorted. "We can hardly drop him at some orphanage somewhere and fake some paperwork."

Aled's gaze briefly flickered to Jack. The Captain and the ex-PC seemed to have forgotten about little people having big ears.

"We'll go back and get your stuff later," Ianto promised him, trying to distract him. "But it might be better for us to have a talk first."

Aled nodded, staring up at the water tower in barely disguised awe. "Wow," he breathed.

"Not been here before?" Ianto asked in surprise. It seemed odd to him that a citizen of Cardiff had not been down to the Bay.

"Once," Aled told him. "With my Grand-Tad." He fell silent again, and Ianto figured that would be all he'd get out of him for now.

Jack and Gwen were continuing their bickering behind them.

"We owe him some answers, Gwen."

"Yes, and I'm all in favour of that, but you can't just bring a child into Torchwood! Have you thought this through _properly, _Jack?"

"Of course I have!" Jack protested.

"And?"

"Well... I was thinking that he could stay with you and Rhys until we get him into another orphanage, or something... we'd find a way."

Gwen sighed impatiently. "Jack. Both Rhys and I work full-time - how d'you think we'd be able to manage a kid?"

"We'd find a way," Jack repeated.

Privately, Ianto thought that Jack was fighting a losing battle with the ex-PC. Gwen was determined, and she was no fool either. She was well aware that Aled was mistrustful of her. She didn't like it, but she accepted it.

Ianto cleared his throat. "Jack."

Jack grinned disarmingly. "C'mon then, Aled. I'm about to show you something you've never seen before..."

"I've seen the water tower before," Aled pointed out. "And the Millenium Centre."

Jack's grin grew wider, and he held out his hand for him to grasp. "Oh, it's a whole lot better than that. A whole lot."

**Y'know, REVIEWS are pretty cool. And they let me know if my work is appreciated. Just ask my mum and she'll tell you that I'm walking on sunshine whenever I get a review (Not literally – that would be stupid. But figuratively speaking, anyway).**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

This has been up for a while on LJ (the only time I've posted there before here) and I forgot that I hadn't put up chap. 3 here. Anyway, EriinR reminded me about this story, and when I checked the story to upload chap.4, I realised that I'd only put up the first two chapters. So here's chapter 3 – chapter 4 will be up sometime in the near future, probably tomorrow or Wednesday. No idea.

Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood. Yet. –evil laugh-

Aled's face was impassive as the invisible lift shuddered into life and they entered the Hub. The only indication that he was at all scared was the slight increase of pressure on Ianto's hand as he clutched it tightly.

Maybe, after seeing something like he'd seen at the orphanage, you didn't get scared anymore. Maybe, after a while, everything becomes jaded in your eyes. Ianto didn't know, but he sure as hell knew that this kid would need all the help he could get to recover from this recent occurrence.

Myfanwy swooped over their heads, shrieking her usual greeting. Aled flinched as her wing nearly clipped his head, his eyes wide and nervous.

"Was – was that a pterodactyl?" he asked in disbelief, his gaze following her as she swept off to her nest.

"That's Myfanwy," Jack told him. "The resident pteranodon. Ianto helped me catch her."

"Oh," Aled whispered. His grip on Ianto's hand tightened.

Jack was beaming delightedly. It wasn't every day that he got to show off the Hub like this and, even if it was just to a kid, he was enjoying it immensely.

Ianto lifted Aled off when they got to the bottom, grunting in surprise at his weight. "We'll give you the grand tour later," he promised.

Aled nodded, looking around him with guarded eyes. "Who _are_ you?" he asked.

"Torchwood," Jack told him. "Outside the government, beyond the police."

Ianto hid a smile at Jack's proud speech.

Aled frowned. "What do you _do_?"

Jack crossed his arms. "I think we'd better take this somewhere else."

"The boardroom?" Gwen suggested.

"C'mon, then," Jack told the boy, holding out his hand to him. "Ianto – can you work some coffee magic, please?"

Ianto nodded, smiling slightly. Jack and his coffee. "Do you want anything, Aled?"

Aled shook his head. "My mam told me to never eat or drink anything that strangers give me."

"I bet she also told you not to go off with them," Jack pointed out.

Aled looked scared and dropped Ianto's hand like it had bitten him.

Ianto and Gwen both gave Jack a look.

"What?" Jack was surprised. "It's the truth."

"But you didn't need to _scare_ him," Gwen said, giving Aled a sympathetic smile. He didn't smile back.

Jack sighed. "Look. Aled. We're not gonna drug you or hurt you in any way. OK?"

"OK." Aled looked up at Ianto shyly. "D'you do hot chocolate?"

"Yep. Marshmallows?"

"Please."

Five minutes later, in the boardroom, Jack started.

"Aled. D'you know what attacked the orphanage?"

Aled's eyes flickered down to his mug. "No."

"It was an alien," Jack said, more abruptly than he had meant to.

Gwen shot him a glare, whilst Ianto just watched Aled, to see his reaction.

Aled nodded slowly, looking up to meet Jack's eyes. "Like those metal men?"

Ianto flinched.

Jack shook his head, slowly. "No, the cybermen weren't aliens."

"Then what were they?" Aled reasoned. "There was nothing like them before."

Jack wondered how much to tell him. _Don't want to scare the kid by telling him they were 'human point two'..._

"They were from a parallel universe," he said finally, not looking at Ianto. He didn't know what he might find in his lover's blue eyes.

Aled frowned and ate a marshmallow. "What about the Daleks? They were aliens, right?"

Jack's breath caught in his throat. "The Daleks are aliens, yes," he agreed hesitantly. He didn't elaborate.

Aled ate another marshmallow. "What other aliens have you seen?"

Jack gave a sad smile. "Too many to count. There are so many worlds out there, so many different universes and galaxies—"

"Do they all try to kill us?" Aled interrupted suddenly. He was looking Jack straight in the eye.

Jack was lost for words for a moment. He opened his mouth, then closed it again. "Not always," he said. "Not all of them are hostile."

Aled neatly bit a marshmallow in half. "Do they all have spaceships?" he asked curiously.

Ianto frowned. Aled was taking it a lot more calmly than any of them had anticipated. Maybe, like he had thought earlier, when you had seen so much and lost so much in such a short space of time, you became used to it. That was certainly the case for Ianto and Gwen – after working for Torchwood, little surprised you.

Jack actually laughed at the question. "Some of them do. In fact, masses of them do. But, most of the time, they slip through something that we call the Rift."

Aled didn't say anything.

"The Rift's a crack in time and space," Gwen explained. "Sometimes, stuff slips through it from other timelines and planets, and it's our job to monitor it." She winced as she realised the words coming from her mouth were the same ones that Owen had used on Rhys.

"Other timelines?" Aled picked up on instantly. "What, like time-travel?"

"Exactly like time-travel," Jack grinned.

Aled's face suddenly fell. "Why are you telling me this? What can _I_ do?"

Jack looked serious. "We're telling you because you deserve answers."

"But what happens now?"

Reviews are loved, huggled, and taken home for chocolate biscuits. I would do the same to reviewers, but I think I'd probably get arrested. So virtual love, huggles, and chocolate biscuits to all that review!


End file.
